Changes to my research plan

After meeting with my site supervisor, we decided to narrow my focus group to only those fifth graders who have been retained instead of all of the secondary students that have been retained. She wanted me to narrow it down based on ease of implementation. I will be following them through and determine the interventions that have been put into place for each of these students, decide if they are working or not, consider whether or not they are still at risk, track their discipline records before and after the retention, and try to come up with new interventions that work better for each students. I will refer back to our Campus Improvement Plan and our Needs Assessment to ensure we are following the path the district has put into place for the success of our school and students. After analyzing this, I will be able to develop the three top most areas of need as it pertains to retention and discipline, and develop a budget from it. I will also present on the difference between a social contract and classroom rules.

Action Research Plan

OUTCOMES	ACTIVITIES	RESOURCES/ RESEARCH TOOLS NEEDED	RESPONSIBILITY TO ADDRESS ACTIVITIES	TIME LINE	Benchmarks/ ASSESSMENT	Revisions to SIP/PIP based on monitoring and assessments
List all students who are at risk.	Determine those at risk of being retained.	Report Cards/ Assessments/ At-Risk Cards	Classroom teacher/ Administration/ Researcher (Me)	Two Weeks April 1, 2012	Refer to List	Update each year
Clearly separate the two sets of students.	Divide the students into primary and secondary groups.	Grade Level Assignments	Researcher (Me)	Two Weeks April 1, 2012	Refer to list	Update each year
List all students in secondary group who are at risk.	Focus on secondary group.	Grade Level Assignments	Researcher (Me)	Two Weeks April 1, 2012	Refer to List	Update each year
List any findings regarding each student.	Determine underlying reasons for these students not being successful.	Teachers/ At-risk cards/ Special Education/ 504/ Attendance/ Age/ Learning Disabilities/ Emotional Disturbances/ Length in school	Classroom teacher/ Administration/ Researcher (Me)	Two Weeks April 1, 2012	Refer to List	Update each year
Weigh positives and negatives of retention.	Research social effects of retention.	Internet	Researcher (Me)	April 8, 2012	Refer to Research	Continue research as needed
Weigh positives and negatives of promotion.	Research social effects of promotion.	Internet	Researcher (Me)	April 8, 2012	Refer to Research	Continue research as needed
Develop lesson plans that reteach necessary areas to ensure success.	Base classroom instruction directly from assessments for reteaching purposes on most missed TEKS.	Assessments/ Curriculum/ TEKS	Classroom teacher/ Administration/ Researcher (Me)	Ongoing	District Benchmarks and Unit tests	After each assessment, reteach based on individualized needs
Have teachers who are highly trained to effectively determine the appropriate interventions.	Train teachers on multiple interventions.	District or School or Myself Internet	Classroom teacher/ Administration/ Researcher (Me)	Fall 2012	Provide List of Different Interventions	Train each year
Assess each students needs and apply appropriate interventions.	Develop interventions based on each student’s needs.	RTI/ IEP Internet	Classroom teacher/ Administration/ Researcher (Me)	Fall 2012	Develop IEPs	Update each year
Keep students from needing to be retained.	Implement interventions.	Internet RTI/ IEP	Classroom teacher/ Administration/ Researcher (Me)	Fall 2012	Refer to successes of each student	Update each year
Change elements that did not work, keep those that did work.	Determine results/ effectiveness.	Assessment results/ Report Card grades/ Promotion or Retention results	Researcher (Me)	End of Year 2012/2013	Change elements based on needs of students and groups	Update each year

Research

In week two of my researh class I have learned a lot about the different types of action research we as professionals can perform and the necessity of them. We grow so much as leaders and learners when we are forever trying to improve student learning. One area that really reached me is the topic of social justice. If we can find a way to reach, engage, and inspire those living a life inpoverty, then maybe we can stop that cycle and change the next generation to come. Providing a stable environment and interventions based on their specific needs is an effective way of doing this.

Educational Leaders Can Use Blogs Too

Educational leaders need a quick site to reference on a number of areas, especially those of concern. When trying to improve learning, we as educators have a responsibilty to provide information and findings we have discovered and one of the easiest ways of doing this is blogging. So blog on to discover all you can and remember to share any findings you have along the way.

Action Research is...

Action research is a systematic approach to improve student learning in school. This tool, when fully utilized, provides measurable results in the areas of instruction. It still follows the basic path when conducting a scientific inquiry: identify a classroom learning problem, research information already known, develop and implement a plan, collect data, analyze results, make changes based on results, and evaluated and share findings. The people conducting this inquiry are those directly involved with the students, so the results are more applicable to their specific needs. Administrators and teachers alike will grow greatly when using this tool. I will be able to use this when I find a discrepancy in student results in academics over what I expected to see and whenever I see the need for a systematic process to follow to get positive learning results.
Right now I would personally like to know the affects student teachers have on the classroom, whether they are positive or negative, and when a negative result appears, how can we change it. Another area I would like to explore is student absences and how it affects their success. More times than I can count, I have had parents ask me why their child is not performing up to standard and yet these are the same parents of these kids with massive attendance issues. I feel data based answers are the easiest to convey, especially when I am the one conducting and analyzing the research process.